CloudSign Introduced to More Than 300 Local Governments

Bengo4.com (Minato-ku, Tokyo; Taichiro Motoe, Representative Director, President and CEO, Lawyer;hereafter the “Company”) is pleased to announce that its contract management platform CloudSign has been introduced by more than 300 municipal and prefectural governments*1 in Japan as of June 2025. CloudSign has an implementation share of about 70%*2 among municipalities across Japan and continues to promote contract digitalization as the e-contract servicer that is the most popular*2 among provincial municipalities.
*1: Companies that have introduced OEM products, including SMBC CloudSign, are included.
*2: Comparison based on in-house survey of the number of prefectures and municipalities deciding on implementation following a value contract from information on public solicitations, tenders and proposals released by municipalities nationwide. Data as of June 1, 2025.

Nationwide, 300 of the 1,788 municipal and prefectural governments (approximately 17%) are using CloudSign® and a total of about 439 municipal and prefectural governments*2 (approximately 24%) are using electronic contracts when you include the local governments using services provided by other companies. These important figures indicate that local governments are making steady progress in their digital transformations.

■ Noteworthy new DX-based business models in local regions

Kochi Prefecture which is experiencing a decreasing population, a declining birthrate and the aging of its population, signed 3,267 electronic contracts in its first year using CloudSign®, which began in May 2022. Kochi Prefecture regularly signs over 300 electronic contracts each month, and it has earned a reputation as a leading prefectural government in Japan that widely uses electronic contracts. The success of Kochi Prefecture’s Civil Engineering Department was soon replicated by other departments. They gave 1,800 business operators in Kochi advance notification and showed them that “it’s easier to do it than to worry about it.”

Ama-cho in Oki-gun, Shimane Prefecture, is a municipality with a population of 2,300 that was the first in Shimane to use CloudSign®. They first used CloudSign® to simplify the contracting process they have to go through with individuals and external organizations, for example, for contracts related to the Island Study Program for Adults. They now use it widely for construction and civil engineering projects, and this has successfully increased efficiency and reduced the cost of the contracting process. The small municipality overcame the disadvantage of being a remote island using electronic contracts, and it has earned a reputation as a perfect example of regional DX.

■ Future outlook

50 municipal and prefectural governments decided to use CloudSign® in the first half of 2025. The number of governments introducing CloudSign® in the year is expected to be an all-time high. As the Local Government Digital Transformation Promotion Plan proposed by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications is well underway, even municipal and prefectural governments experiencing a shortage of IT personnel can learn how to operate the CloudSign® system in just one day, which helps eliminate the digital divide between urban and rural areas. Municipal and prefectural governments that have begun using electronic contracts have also encouraged the digitalization of small and medium-sized businesses in their communities, indicating they are now playing a new role in leading regional DX.

■ CloudSign implementation plan for municipal and prefectural governments:  https://www.cloudsign.jp/government/

■ About CloudSign: https://www.cloudsign.jp/

CloudSign is a contract management platform that enables digitization of everything from contract execution to management and AI review. The electronic signatures and timestamps are compliant with the Act on Electronic Signatures and Certification Business, ensuring smooth and secure contract execution. CloudSign also began offering Japan’s first ever My Number Card (individual number card) signature capability as part of its general-purpose contracting service in 2023. The platform also shortens the time required for the entire contracting process through the active adoption of AI technology including an AI contract management capability and an AI-powered contract review service, CloudSign Review. CloudSign has become the No. 1 service in the electronic contract market*3, and is widely adopted by companies and local governments.

*3: Market share in “New Markets of Software Business 2024” (2023 result of e-contract tools) by Fuji Chimera Research Institute, Inc.